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Gavin Grimm Just Won His Fight for Transgender Rights in Court

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Judge Rules US Constitution and Federal Law Protect Transgender Students

A federal judge has ruled that both the U.S. Constitution and Title IX of the federal civil rights statutes protect transgender students.

U.S. District Court Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen of the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that transgender students must be allowed to use facilities that correspond with their gender identity, and cannot be forced to use separate facilities, including restrooms and other gender-specific facilities, like locker rooms.

In its 31-page ruling, the court, siding with the ACLU, ruled against the Gloucester County School Board’s request to dismiss the case. Instead, it ordered the school board to settle with Gavin Grimm, formerly a student at the school when he brought the suit nearly three years ago. Grimm has since graduated.

“I feel an incredible sense of relief,” Grimm, 19, said via a statement. “After fighting this policy since I was 15 years old, I finally have a court decision saying that what the Gloucester County School Board did to me was wrong and it was against the law. I was determined not to give up because I didn’t want any other student to have to suffer the same experience that I had to go through.”

“The Sixth and Seventh Circuits have since held that excluding boys and girls who are transgender from the restrooms that align with their gender identity may subject them to discrimination on the basis of sex under Title DC, the Equal Protection Clause, or both,” JudgeWright Allen also wrote.

ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Joshua Block said: “The district court’s ruling vindicates what Gavin has saying from the beginning.”

“Federal law protects Gavin and other students who are transgender from being stigmatized and excluded from using the same common restrooms that other boys and girls use,” Block added. “These sorts of discriminatory policies do nothing to protect privacy and only serve to harm and humiliate transgender students.”

 

Image via ACLU

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WINNING!

‘Worst Deal Maker in the History of Earth’: A Defeated Trump Mercilessly Mocked After Losing Shutdown to Pelosi

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6 years ago

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January 25, 2019

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‘She Crushed Him Like a Bug’

A defeated President Donald Trump has finally agreed to end his 35-day shutdown of the federal government, saying he will sign funding bills that will re-open the government. Those bills have no money for his border wall. In fact, he has caved to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, getting only what he would have gotten had he allowed the Senate to pass the bills the House passed over a month ago.

This is his second defeat since Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House just three weeks ago. President Trump went down in huge defeat over his demand to deliver the State of the Union address during the government shutdown.

Losing the shutdown war he waged for over a month, at the behest of far right wing pundits including Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, is a massive defeat for the President who promised for years he would “build the wall and Mexico will pay for it,” and later, promising to “own” the shutdown, and allow the government to stay closed for months or possibly years.

On social media, relief the shutdown will be over and federal employees will (hopefully) soon receive their paychecks was palpable, but so was the utter and sheer disdain for Trump. The mockery was intensely evident.

Take a look:

 

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‘Reality Check Moment’: Trump Will Be Forced to Compromise White House Official Admits

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6 years ago

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January 16, 2019

By

Donald Trump speaking in Mesa, Arizona

Everyone except the president of the United States seems to realize the only way the shutdown will end is with a compromise on his part.

A Wall Street Journal report on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to hold the State of the Union until the shutdown is over quoted a White House official admitting President Donald Trump will be forced to compromise.

“There’s going to have to be a reality check moment that what he signs might not be what he’s been saying he needs,” a White House official said. “I don’t see how this can stretch much longer without becoming disastrous for everyone.”

Democrats have eagerly offered additional money for border security, despite the president not spending the money he was given last year. But Trump has refused to accept the deal because it doesn’t’ fund his wall.

A majority of Americans blame Trump for the shutdown and a majority of Americans also don’t want his wall. Instead, most support sensible border security as well as comprehensive immigration reform.

Read the full report at The Journal.

RELATED STORIES:

MITCH MCCONNELL HAS JUST AGAIN BLOCKED THE SENATE FROM VOTING TO END THE SHUTDOWN AND REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT

TRUMP HAS ‘NOWHERE TO GO’ AND WILL BECOME MORE UNPOPULAR—NO MATTER HOW THE SHUTDOWN ENDS: CNN POLLING ANALYST

POLL: TRUMP OWNS SHUTDOWN, NO REAL CRISES, BUT MORE SUPPORTING BORDER WALL

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

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Trump Tweet Could Undo FBI Limitations from White House Counsel

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6 years ago

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September 30, 2018

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Donald Trump, photographed at CPAC

In a tweet sent Saturday evening, President Trump may have undone limitations by his own White House placed on the FBI investigation allegations of sexual assault levied against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

The tweet in question, from Donald Trump’s personal account, is attacking NBC reporting of the FBI probe, claiming that his office will allow the FBI to “interview whoever they deem appropriate.”

NBC news had reported on significant limitations on the scope of the FBI’s investigation, including barring investigation of claims of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh brought forth by Julie Swetnick. The Wall Street Journal also reported on these same limitations.

The report had said that the White House counsel’s office had given the FBI a lot of the people they were permitted to interview, which would make it difficult for the FBI to follow leads and bring in corroborating witnesses.

Don McGahn is the current White House counsel, and a friend of Kavanaugh. Donald Trump had previously announced the departure of McGahn from the position after the presumed confirmation of Kavanaugh.

It may seem odd that a presidential social media account could up-end limitations placed on the FBI by the counsel, but the Department of Justice made just this case in November of last year, telling a district court that his tweets are “official statements of the President of the United States.”

It is also worth noting that McGahn has no legal authority to direct or limit the FBI’s work, and that the President would hold sway over McGahn.

The new Trump tweet seems to contradict the presidents own statement from the 28th, saying that the FBI’s investigation would be “limited in scope.”

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

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